Good afternoon. Thank you, Norm, for that warm introduction and for the invitation. I am delighted to be with you at what I believe is a pivotal moment for American leadership in crypto-asset markets. Before I share my thoughts, let me thank the America First Policy Institute for convening this timely discussion. And, to keep the compliance team happy, I must note that the views I express today are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission or my fellow Commissioners.

Today I want to discuss what Commissioner Hester Peirce and I call “Project Crypto,” the SEC’s North Star in supporting President Trump’s historic effort to make the United States the “Global Crypto Capital.” But before outlining our plan to secure U.S. primacy, let us recall a few inflection points in capital-markets history—moments not unlike the one we now face—so that the future we shape is worthy of the legacy we have inherited.

---

From the Buttonwood Tree to the Blockchain: The Evolution of Capital Markets

Innovation has always swept—sometimes hurricane-like—through our capital markets. In 1792 it rustled the leaves of a buttonwood tree under which two-dozen brokers signed the parchment that birthed the New York Stock Exchange. That single page of ink launched an elegant system that has ordered capital flows for generations.

Our markets have never stood still. They expand, evolve, and reinvent themselves alongside contemporary ideas and technologies. Markets endure because people animate them—directing human creativity toward society’s hardest problems and rewarding those who deliver the most valuable solutions. This is Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”: private interest harnessed for public good.

The SEC’s duty is to protect that process—markets where human ingenuity and skill serve society. Over time we have sometimes fostered innovation, sometimes stifled it. Fortunately, the forward tide always wins. When we greet innovation with prudence rather than fear, American leadership surges.

In the 1960s—before my time—a raging bull market strained back-office plumbing. Most clearing and settlement still relied on cumbersome, paper-based processes. Physical stock certificates were carted around Wall Street and beyond; one firm’s delay could jam the entire chain. Certificates were lost or stolen; failed trades spiked; under-capitalized brokers faced ruin. Exchanges shortened trading hours and even closed on Wednesdays so clerks could catch up.

Chairman Manuel Cohen called the resulting systemic breakdown “the most severe and prolonged crisis in the securities industry in forty years… firm failures and a sharp drop in investor confidence.” The SEC responded decisively, championing the creation of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation—transforming how securities are held and traded. Paper certificates were immobilized; ownership moved onto electronic ledgers, laying the groundwork for today’s clearance and settlement.

Later, 1990s-era electronic trading shattered old assumptions. Chairman Arthur Levitt argued the SEC must provide regulatory flexibility for electronic markets, leading to 1999’s Regulation ATS, which allowed these systems to operate as broker-dealers rather than traditional exchanges.

Which brings us to today—a moment calling for American ambition and a project capable of unleashing it.

---

Forging the Future: American Leadership in a Financial Golden Age

Let me be clear: under my leadership the SEC will not sit idle while innovation flourishes abroad and our own markets stagnate. To realize President Trump’s vision of America as the Global Crypto Capital, the Commission must holistically weigh the benefits and risks of migrating our markets on-chain.

I therefore announce today the launch of Project Crypto, an all-of-SEC initiative to modernize securities regulation so that U.S. financial markets can move fully on-chain.

Weeks ago the President signed the GENIUS Act, establishing a gold-standard regulatory regime for stablecoins in global payments. He has also urged Congress to pass market-structure legislation for crypto this year. I applaud the House’s bipartisan progress and look forward to Senate refinements that will insulate our markets from regulatory overreach and cement American dominance.

Yesterday the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets released its PWG Report, giving the SEC and other agencies a clear blueprint for sustaining U.S. leadership. As the President said last week, he wants “the world to run on American-built infrastructure.” I stand ready to help deliver.

Accordingly, I have directed SEC policy staff to partner closely with Commissioner Peirce’s crypto task force to implement the Report’s recommendations swiftly. Project Crypto will ensure the United States remains the best place to start companies, build frontier technology, and access capital markets. We will welcome back the crypto enterprises that fled the prior Administration’s “regulation-by-enforcement” and “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.” Whether established firms or newcomers, innovators are welcome.

---

Bringing Crypto Issuance Back to America

Project Crypto will encompass several SEC-wide initiatives.

First, we will bring crypto-asset issuance back onshore. Byzantine offshore structures, faux-decentralization theater, and confusion over what is or isn’t a security will be relics of the past. President Trump has declared America’s “golden age”—and crypto will join it.

Following the PWG Report, my first priority is a domestic framework for crypto issuance. Capital formation is central to the SEC’s mission, yet for years we ignored market demand and stifled crypto-based fundraising. That drove issuance offshore and denied Americans access to productive economic activity. The “shoot first, ask questions later” era ends now.

Most crypto assets simply are not securities, yet the muddled reach of the Howey test leads innovators to treat everything as a security just to be safe. American entrepreneurs are modernizing everything from automotive titles—like Senator Bernie Moreno’s blockchain title-transfer company—to supply-chain finance. They deserve bright-line guidance.

I have directed staff to publish clear criteria so market participants can determine whether a token is a security or an investment contract. We will help them classify assets—digital collectibles, digital commodities, stablecoins—and assess the economic substance of any transaction. If ongoing promises exist, the asset may be an investment contract; if not, it is not.

Nor should being a security be a scarlet letter. We need a framework that lets crypto-securities thrive in U.S. markets. Many issuers will prefer the flexibility securities law offers—dividends, voting rights, investor protections. Entrepreneurs should not be forced into premature DAOs, offshore foundations, or “decentralize at all costs.” I am excited by new use-cases like tokenized equity participating in blockchain consensus.

For those crypto-assets that are securities, I have asked staff to craft tailored disclosure rules, exemptions, and safe harbors for ICOs, airdrops, and network rewards. The goal: issuers should include U.S. investors by choice, not exclude them out of fear.

Tokenizing traditional securities—equity, debt, partnership interests—is also surging abroad due to U.S. hurdles. From household Wall Street names to Silicon Valley unicorns, firms have asked for permission to distribute security tokens domestically. I have instructed staff to provide regulatory relief where appropriate so America is not left behind.

---

Maximizing Freedom: Custody and Trading-Venue Choice

Second, President Trump’s vision requires the SEC to preserve maximum freedom in how participants custody and trade assets. The right to hold and self-custody property is core to American liberty. Investors may self-custody via wallets and stake on-chain, or they may choose SEC-registered intermediaries subject to heightened duties.

During my tenure, implementing the PWG Report’s recommendations to modernize custody obligations for registered intermediaries will be a priority. The prior Administration’s special-purpose broker-dealer framework, SAB 121, and Operation Chokepoint 2.0 have left almost no compliant custodians. Current rules ignore crypto’s unique features. Staff will study appropriate accommodations, exemptions, or amendments.

The PWG Report also urges allowing firms to operate under the most efficient licensing structure. We will not force them into a Procrustean bed. I support permitting multi-line businesses so long as investor protections remain intact.

---

Super-Apps: Horizontal Integration of Products and Services

Third, I aim to let intermediaries innovate within a Super-App framework. What is a Super-App? Simply this: a broker-dealer with an ATS should be able—under one platform and one license—to offer non-security crypto trading, security-token trading, traditional securities, staking, lending, and more—without needing fifty state licenses or multiple federal charters.

Federal securities law does not bar registered exchanges from listing non-securities. Staff will issue guidance to make Super-Apps a reality—perhaps a future “Reg Super-App.”

As the PWG Report recommends, the SEC should coordinate with other regulators to craft the lightest, most efficient licensing regime. Banks, for example, are not forced to register separately as broker-dealers or clearing agencies. We will apply the minimum dose of regulation necessary.

I have directed staff to craft a framework allowing non-security and security crypto-assets to trade side-by-side on SEC-regulated venues. We will also explore using our authority to let certain crypto-assets list on non-SEC venues, boosting liquidity and giving CFTC platforms margin capabilities even before Congress acts.

---

Unleashing On-Chain Software: From DeFi to Market Structure Reform

Fourth, I have directed staff to update antiquated rules so that on-chain software systems can flourish in U.S. capital markets. These systems range from truly decentralized code to those run by identifiable operators. Both deserve space.

Any market-structure regime must give decentralized-software developers a clear path. Automated market makers and other DeFi systems can automate finance without intermediaries. Federal securities law has always assumed intermediaries, but if the market can run without them, we should respect that.

We will protect coders who merely publish software, draw clear lines between intermediary and non-intermediary activity, and craft workable rules for those who choose to operate on-chain systems. DeFi will be part of our markets, not smothered by redundant regulation.

Reforms may touch Reg NMS. Twenty years ago I co-authored a dissent with Commissioner Cynthia Glassman warning that Reg NMS’s rigidities would distort markets. Those concerns are more relevant today. Congress intended competitive forces—not over-regulation—to shape our national market system. I will fight to return to that vision.

---

Innovation as North Star

Finally, innovation and entrepreneurship are the engines of the American economy. President Trump calls America “the builders’ nation.” Under my leadership the SEC will nurture, not throttle, that spirit. We are actively considering industry proposals and exploring an Innovation Exemption—a mechanism allowing registered and unregistered entities to pilot new models that do not fit existing rules.

Participants would enter the market immediately, subject to principle-based conditions aligned with the core goals of the securities laws: periodic SEC reporting, optional whitelists or accredited pools, and use of compliance-ready token standards such as ERC-3643. Commercial viability must be the guiding star.

---

Good afternoon. Thank you, Norm, for that warm introduction and for the invitation. I am delighted to be with you at what I believe is a pivotal moment for American leadership in crypto-asset markets. Before I share my thoughts, let me thank the America First Policy Institute for convening this timely discussion. And, to keep the compliance team happy, I must note that the views I express today are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission or my fellow Commissioners.

Today I want to discuss what Commissioner Hester Peirce and I call “Project Crypto,” the SEC’s North Star in supporting President Trump’s historic effort to make the United States the “Global Crypto Capital.” But before outlining our plan to secure U.S. primacy, let us recall a few inflection points in capital-markets history—moments not unlike the one we now face—so that the future we shape is worthy of the legacy we have inherited.

---

From the Buttonwood Tree to the Blockchain: The Evolution of Capital Markets

Innovation has always swept—sometimes hurricane-like—through our capital markets. In 1792 it rustled the leaves of a buttonwood tree under which two-dozen brokers signed the parchment that birthed the New York Stock Exchange. That single page of ink launched an elegant system that has ordered capital flows for generations.

Our markets have never stood still. They expand, evolve, and reinvent themselves alongside contemporary ideas and technologies. Markets endure because people animate them—directing human creativity toward society’s hardest problems and rewarding those who deliver the most valuable solutions. This is Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”: private interest harnessed for public good.

The SEC’s duty is to protect that process—markets where human ingenuity and skill serve society. Over time we have sometimes fostered innovation, sometimes stifled it. Fortunately, the forward tide always wins. When we greet innovation with prudence rather than fear, American leadership surges.

In the 1960s—before my time—a raging bull market strained back-office plumbing. Most clearing and settlement still relied on cumbersome, paper-based processes. Physical stock certificates were carted around Wall Street and beyond; one firm’s delay could jam the entire chain. Certificates were lost or stolen; failed trades spiked; under-capitalized brokers faced ruin. Exchanges shortened trading hours and even closed on Wednesdays so clerks could catch up.

Chairman Manuel Cohen called the resulting systemic breakdown “the most severe and prolonged crisis in the securities industry in forty years… firm failures and a sharp drop in investor confidence.” The SEC responded decisively, championing the creation of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation—transforming how securities are held and traded. Paper certificates were immobilized; ownership moved onto electronic ledgers, laying the groundwork for today’s clearance and settlement.

Later, 1990s-era electronic trading shattered old assumptions. Chairman Arthur Levitt argued the SEC must provide regulatory flexibility for electronic markets, leading to 1999’s Regulation ATS, which allowed these systems to operate as broker-dealers rather than traditional exchanges.

Which brings us to today—a moment calling for American ambition and a project capable of unleashing it.

---

Forging the Future: American Leadership in a Financial Golden Age

Let me be clear: under my leadership the SEC will not sit idle while innovation flourishes abroad and our own markets stagnate. To realize President Trump’s vision of America as the Global Crypto Capital, the Commission must holistically weigh the benefits and risks of migrating our markets on-chain.

I therefore announce today the launch of Project Crypto, an all-of-SEC initiative to modernize securities regulation so that U.S. financial markets can move fully on-chain.

Weeks ago the President signed the GENIUS Act, establishing a gold-standard regulatory regime for stablecoins in global payments. He has also urged Congress to pass market-structure legislation for crypto this year. I applaud the House’s bipartisan progress and look forward to Senate refinements that will insulate our markets from regulatory overreach and cement American dominance.

Yesterday the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets released its PWG Report, giving the SEC and other agencies a clear blueprint for sustaining U.S. leadership. As the President said last week, he wants “the world to run on American-built infrastructure.” I stand ready to help deliver.

Accordingly, I have directed SEC policy staff to partner closely with Commissioner Peirce’s crypto task force to implement the Report’s recommendations swiftly. Project Crypto will ensure the United States remains the best place to start companies, build frontier technology, and access capital markets. We will welcome back the crypto enterprises that fled the prior Administration’s “regulation-by-enforcement” and “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.” Whether established firms or newcomers, innovators are welcome.

---

Bringing Crypto Issuance Back to America

Project Crypto will encompass several SEC-wide initiatives.

First, we will bring crypto-asset issuance back onshore. Byzantine offshore structures, faux-decentralization theater, and confusion over what is or isn’t a security will be relics of the past. President Trump has declared America’s “golden age”—and crypto will join it.

Following the PWG Report, my first priority is a domestic framework for crypto issuance. Capital formation is central to the SEC’s mission, yet for years we ignored market demand and stifled crypto-based fundraising. That drove issuance offshore and denied Americans access to productive economic activity. The “shoot first, ask questions later” era ends now.

Most crypto assets simply are not securities, yet the muddled reach of the Howey test leads innovators to treat everything as a security just to be safe. American entrepreneurs are modernizing everything from automotive titles—like Senator Bernie Moreno’s blockchain title-transfer company—to supply-chain finance. They deserve bright-line guidance.

I have directed staff to publish clear criteria so market participants can determine whether a token is a security or an investment contract. We will help them classify assets—digital collectibles, digital commodities, stablecoins—and assess the economic substance of any transaction. If ongoing promises exist, the asset may be an investment contract; if not, it is not.

Nor should being a security be a scarlet letter. We need a framework that lets crypto-securities thrive in U.S. markets. Many issuers will prefer the flexibility securities law offers—dividends, voting rights, investor protections. Entrepreneurs should not be forced into premature DAOs, offshore foundations, or “decentralize at all costs.” I am excited by new use-cases like tokenized equity participating in blockchain consensus.

For those crypto-assets that are securities, I have asked staff to craft tailored disclosure rules, exemptions, and safe harbors for ICOs, airdrops, and network rewards. The goal: issuers should include U.S. investors by choice, not exclude them out of fear.

Tokenizing traditional securities—equity, debt, partnership interests—is also surging abroad due to U.S. hurdles. From household Wall Street names to Silicon Valley unicorns, firms have asked for permission to distribute security tokens domestically. I have instructed staff to provide regulatory relief where appropriate so America is not left behind.

---

Maximizing Freedom: Custody and Trading-Venue Choice

Second, President Trump’s vision requires the SEC to preserve maximum freedom in how participants custody and trade assets. The right to hold and self-custody property is core to American liberty. Investors may self-custody via wallets and stake on-chain, or they may choose SEC-registered intermediaries subject to heightened duties.

During my tenure, implementing the PWG Report’s recommendations to modernize custody obligations for registered intermediaries will be a priority. The prior Administration’s special-purpose broker-dealer framework, SAB 121, and Operation Chokepoint 2.0 have left almost no compliant custodians. Current rules ignore crypto’s unique features. Staff will study appropriate accommodations, exemptions, or amendments.

The PWG Report also urges allowing firms to operate under the most efficient licensing structure. We will not force them into a Procrustean bed. I support permitting multi-line businesses so long as investor protections remain intact.

---

Super-Apps: Horizontal Integration of Products and Services

Third, I aim to let intermediaries innovate within a Super-App framework. What is a Super-App? Simply this: a broker-dealer with an ATS should be able—under one platform and one license—to offer non-security crypto trading, security-token trading, traditional securities, staking, lending, and more—without needing fifty state licenses or multiple federal charters.

Federal securities law does not bar registered exchanges from listing non-securities. Staff will issue guidance to make Super-Apps a reality—perhaps a future “Reg Super-App.”

As the PWG Report recommends, the SEC should coordinate with other regulators to craft the lightest, most efficient licensing regime. Banks, for example, are not forced to register separately as broker-dealers or clearing agencies. We will apply the minimum dose of regulation necessary.

I have directed staff to craft a framework allowing non-security and security crypto-assets to trade side-by-side on SEC-regulated venues. We will also explore using our authority to let certain crypto-assets list on non-SEC venues, boosting liquidity and giving CFTC platforms margin capabilities even before Congress acts.

---

Unleashing On-Chain Software: From DeFi to Market Structure Reform

Fourth, I have directed staff to update antiquated rules so that on-chain software systems can flourish in U.S. capital markets. These systems range from truly decentralized code to those run by identifiable operators. Both deserve space.

Any market-structure regime must give decentralized-software developers a clear path. Automated market makers and other DeFi systems can automate finance without intermediaries. Federal securities law has always assumed intermediaries, but if the market can run without them, we should respect that.

We will protect coders who merely publish software, draw clear lines between intermediary and non-intermediary activity, and craft workable rules for those who choose to operate on-chain systems. DeFi will be part of our markets, not smothered by redundant regulation.

Reforms may touch Reg NMS. Twenty years ago I co-authored a dissent with Commissioner Cynthia Glassman warning that Reg NMS’s rigidities would distort markets. Those concerns are more relevant today. Congress intended competitive forces—not over-regulation—to shape our national market system. I will fight to return to that vision.

---

Innovation as North Star

Finally, innovation and entrepreneurship are the engines of the American economy. President Trump calls America “the builders’ nation.” Under my leadership the SEC will nurture, not throttle, that spirit. We are actively considering industry proposals and exploring an Innovation Exemption—a mechanism allowing registered and unregistered entities to pilot new models that do not fit existing rules.

Participants would enter the market immediately, subject to principle-based conditions aligned with the core goals of the securities laws: periodic SEC reporting, optional whitelists or accredited pools, and use of compliance-ready token standards such as ERC-3643. Commercial viability must be the guiding star.

---